Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Apollo Global Management have made a $26 billion cash offer for movie group Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The two companies submitted a non-binding offer letter on Wednesday, signed by Sony Pictures Chief Executive Tony Vinciquerra and Apollo partner Aaron Sobel, said the WSJ, citing people familiar with the matter.
SPE, Apollo and Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters, which reported in April that Sony's SPE and Apollo were in talks on a joint bid. Sony could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday as its office was closed for a national holiday in Japan
SPE would hold a majority stake in the venture, a source previously told Reuters, and operate Paramount, whose movie library spans "Star Trek", "Mission:Impossible" and "Indiana Jones", alongside TV characters like SpongeBob SquarePants.
Paramount is already in exclusive talks with Skydance Media and is working to build its streaming business as it faces tough competition from Netflix and Walt Disney as viewership of cable TV declines.
Shari Redstone's media empire replaced its CEO Bob Bakish with a trio of executives on Monday, while four independent members of Paramount board are set to step down at the company's annual shareholder meeting on June 4.
Some shareholders have raised concerns about the deal with Davis Ellison's Skydance and have urged Paramount to consider other offers, including the one from Apollo Global Management.
Bloomberg News has reported that Redstone, who owns a majority of Paramount's voting shares, and Ellison have made concessions to make the deal more appealing to shareholders.
Skydance's exclusive deal period ends on Friday.
SPE, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation, says its operations span movie and television production, acquisition and distribution, digital content creation and distribution, studio facility operation and the development of new entertainment products, services and technologies.
The group has more than 3,500 movie titles and notable franchises such as "Jumanji", "Resident Evil" and "James Bond".
